For Those Ill Leave Behind

Third book of Poetry written, chronologically, by Lisa M. Doyle. This collection comprises categories that deal with struggles, living with alcoholism, innocence and youth, and the legacy we bequeath to those we leave behind.

Have you ever wished that you could be somebody else? Someone completely different? In a brand-new set of more favorable circumstances? Throw off your troubled (or even your nondescript) current life? That's just how Paul Marchildon, in 1963, San Antonio, Texas, felt-when everything was closing in on him. His marriage was quickly unraveling! His modest house was under foreclosure! And his car was about to be repossessed! In addition, he faced an impossible, romantic, situation-vis-a-vis a woman with whom he'd once worked. Paul was sorely tempted to steal $1,000 from his employer! He struggled to resist! Then, when his wife announced that she was taking his four children-and moving in with her parents some 350 miles away-he took the money! And ran! In his flight, Paul was intercepted by an angel-spokesman for a small group of heavenly beings! The angel offered to give him a new body, a new voice, a new name-and to set him up in a beautiful condo, on the beautiful Pacific Ocean beach, in beautiful Oregon. More than a thousand miles from his untenable situation. There was just one highly problematic difficulty: the "celestial deal" consisted of those few angels faking Paul's death! He'd turn up as having died in an automobile crash! Truly, this would be a brand-new beginning! The troubled man accepted! It was only after he had become the younger-and far more handsome- Taylor Young, that he begins worrying about those he'd left behind! His "widow" ran off with some "snake oil" salesman, who won her over with a few lavish gifts. She joined a cult! That left the children-all of whom Paul/Taylor missed terribly-in the hands of their grandparents. Grandma was dangerously harried-and Grandpa hated having the responsibility of having to raise kids that were not his own! Further, there was another woman-one with whom Paul had had a romantic relationship. She was terribly upset by his "running out." She is completely shattered-to learn of his "death." Paul had also been close to her two children. None of this was helping! It was only after he'd assumed his new lifestyle that the now-Taylor slowly learned of the many and varied difficulties confronting all these people from his past. The ones he'd left behind. Obviously, he became more and more concerned about them! So he strived to do something-to do whatever he can-about their troubling circumstances. The effect that his sudden journey back to Texas had on the two women-with whom he'd formed a relationship in Oregon-only added to his rapidly accumulating difficulties. Trust me! A "new beginning" is not always what it would seem to be!

“An artful exercise in melancholy…Every reader will love openhearted Will.” —Booklist (starred review) “Haunting, introspective.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Emotionally raw…[A] piercing narrative.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “McGhee artfully illustrates the tangled web wherein grief intertwines with the mundane.” —BCCB After his dad dies of suicide, Will tries to overcome his own misery by secretly helping the people around him in this exquisitely crafted story made up of one hundred chapters of one hundred words each, by award-winning and bestselling author Alison McGhee. Sixteen-year-old Will spends most of his days the same way: Working at the Dollar Only store, trying to replicate his late father’s famous cornbread recipe, and walking the streets of Los Angeles. Will started walking after his father committed suicide, and three years later he hasn’t stopped. But there are some places Will can’t walk by: The blessings store with the chest of 100 Chinese blessings in the back, the bridge on Fourth Street where his father died, and his childhood friend Playa’s house. When Will learns Playa was raped at a party—a party he was at, where he saw Playa, and where he believes he could have stopped the worst from happening if he hadn’t left early—it spurs Will to stop being complacent in his own sadness and do some good in the world. He begins to leave small gifts for everyone in his life, from Superman the homeless guy he passes on his way to work, to the Little Butterfly Dude he walks by on the way home, to Playa herself. And it is through those acts of kindness that Will is finally able to push past his own trauma and truly begin to live his life again. Oh, and discover the truth about that cornbread.

Novel about the Apocalypse.

This ground breaking work is the result of research by Plan International China and the China Agricultural University on children who have been left behind in their rural villages when their parents migrate to cities in search of work.

NOW A MAJOR GLOBAL NETFLIX ADAPTATION STARRING JULIA ROBERTS, KEVIN BACON, ETHAN HAWKE AND MAHERSHALA ALI*A THE TIMES #1 BESTSELLER**THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**A BARACK OBAMA SUMMER READING PICK 2021*'Easily the best thing I have read all year' KILEY REID, AUTHOR OF SUCH A FUN AGE'Intense, incisive, I loved this and have still not quite shaken off the unease' DAVID NICHOLLS'I was hooked from the opening pages' CLARE MACKINTOSH'Simply breathtaking . . . An extraordinary book, at once smart, gripping and hallucinatory' OBSERVER_______A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrongAmanda and Clay head to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a holiday: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they've rented for the week. But with a late-night knock on the door, the spell is broken. Ruth and G. H., an older couple who claim to own the home, have arrived there in a panic. These strangers say that a sudden power outage has swept the city, and - with nowhere else to turn - they have come to the country in search of shelter.But with the TV and internet down, and no phone service, the facts are unknowable. Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple - and vice versa? What has happened back in New York? Is the holiday home, isolated from civilisation, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another?_______FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2020FINALIST FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2021A DAILY TELEGRAPH, GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, IRISH TIMES AND TIME BOOK OF THE YEAREveryone is talking about LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND'You will probably need to read it in as close to one sitting as possible' Sunday Times'A page-turner taking in themes of isolation, race and class' Guardian'A book that could have been tailor-made for our times' The Times'A literary page-turner that will keep you awake even after it ends'Mail on Sunday'An exceptional examination of race and class and what the world looks like when it's ending' Roxane Gay'A thrilling book - one that will speak to readers who have felt the terror of isolation in these recent months and one that will simultaneously, as great books do, lift them out of it' Vogue'Explores complex ideas about privilege and fate with miraculous wit and grace' Jenny Offill'For the reader, the invisible terror outside in Leave the World Behind echoes the sense of disquiet today in a world convulsed by the pandemic' Financial Times'Alam's achievement is to see that his genre's traditional arc, which relies on the idea of aftermath, no longer makes sense. Today, disaster novels call for something different' New Yorker'Read it with the lights on' Jenna Bush Hager, October Book Club pick

A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.

Jessica Verdi, the author of My Life After Now and The Summer I Wasn't Me, returns with a heartbreaking and poignant novel of grief and guilt that reads like Nicholas Sparks for teens. It's all Ryden's fault. If he hadn't gotten Meg pregnant, she would have never stopped her chemo treatments and would still be alive. Instead he's failing fatherhood one dirty diaper at a time. And it's not like he's had time to grieve while struggling to care for their infant daughter, start his senior year, and earn the soccer scholarship he needs to go to college. The one person who makes Ryden feel like his old self is Joni. She's fun and energetic-and doesn't know he has a baby. But the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to keep his two worlds separate. Finding one of Meg's journals only stirs up old emotions. Ryden's convinced Meg left other notebooks for him to find, some message to help his new life make sense. But how is he going to have a future if he can't let go of the past? "Ryden's story is a moving illustration of how sometimes you have to let go of the life you planned to embrace the life you've been given. A strong, character-driven story that teen readers will love."-Carrie Arcos, National Book Award Finalist for Out of Reach